Saturday, November 04, 2023

UPDATED: Terriers edge Fighting Hawks, 3-2; Women beat Merrimack in OT

Luke Tuch’s tally four minutes into the third period broke a 2-2 tie and the #8/9 Terriers held off the #3/4 Fighting Hawks to claim a 3-2 win in the front end of a two-game series at Agganis Arena. A charged-up crowd of 4,390 saw BU gain its first win against a top-10 team this season.

BU also received goals from Dylan Peterson in the opening period and Lane Hutson in the second. Junior goalie Mathieu Caron was a standout in goal again, stopping 32 of 34 shots, including all 16 he faced in the third period. BU’s second and third goals came on power plays while UND second goal was scored shorthanded.

SCROLL DOWN FOR DEFKIT'S TERRIER TAKEAWAY

“Overall I liked our effort, especially at the end having to kill two penalties late,” said Head Coach Jay Pandolfo. “I thought that we were willing to block shots, we battled.They’ve got a heavy team over there. They’re a really good team. A little older, some of their guys, and obviously we have some young guys.

"It was good for our guys to go through a game like that, and for us at the end of the day to win was great,” he added.

Terriers took a poke at the visitors even before the puck dropped. They wore the same white Jack Garrity-era uniforms they had sported when the Terriers defeated UND, 4-3 in double overtime, in the Fargo Regional in 2017—the last time the teams had met. And, Charlie McAvoy, who scored the game-winner that night—was at Agganis and read the starting lineup to the team.

BU came out fast and enjoyed a territorial advantage throughout the opening 10 minutes. But it was the visitors who took the initial lead when a Jackson Blake shot from the right circle beat Caron through the five-hole.

The Terriers needed less than a minute to respond. Shane Lachance corralled the puck along the left boards in the UND zone, continued to the goal line and drove to the crease. His backhander was redirected past Ludvig Persson by Peterson at 16:33 for his third of the season. Ty Gallagher also assisted. BU had an 8-5 shots advantage.

North Dakota had the better of the play early in the second, but at the 12-minute mark Jackson Kunz took a roughing penalty. A face-off infraction gave BU a two-man advantage and it paid off when Macklin Celebrini set up Hutson in the right circle. He closed in a bit, hesitated while a defender committed , then ripped a wrister past Persson, blocker side. Jeremy Wilmer had the secondary assist.

BU’s 2-1 lead didn’t last 30 seconds. Still on a power play, BU mishandled the puck at the UND blue line and the visitors flew up the ice. Ben Striden gathered the puck along the left boards in the BU zone, cut to the middle, eluding Lane Hutson, and, with a Fighting Hawk skating across the crease, he fired a hard wrister past Caron.

BU nearly regained the lead at the end of the period. With the Terriers attacking the North Dakota cage, Quinn Hutson controlled a rebound and fired a shot that went off the crossbar and out of play. Shots in the period were 13-7 UND.

BU went on its fifth power play at the 3:00 minute mark of the third period. With the second unit out, Tom Willander passed to Jack Hughes who slid down the left boards and dished the puck to Devin Kaplan just outside the left post. Initially defended, he used his reach to regain the puck and sent it across the crease to Tuch who one-timed it past Persson for a 3-2 lead. It was the senior forward’s fourth goal of the season.

A pair of Terrier penalties put the visitors in position to knot the score again, but sharp goaltending by Caron and those blocked shots Pandolfo referenced led to successful kills.

North Dakota pulled its goalie for an extra attacker with 2:13 remaining in regulation, but three more Terrier blocks and a 5-bell save by Caron kept the Fighting Hawks from scoring an equalizer.

BU blocked a total of 22 shots, led by four from Willander and three each by Case McCarthy, Cade Webber and Lane Hutson.

After killing all three of its penalties, BU has stopped 14 of the last 15 power plays. And after struggling on the power play earlier this season, the Terriers are 6-16 with a man-advantage during the current four-game unbeaten streak. 

"Special teams was huge for us tonight," Pandolfo told the media. "Two power play goals and did a great job killing penalties. Joe Pereira who runs our kill — we know they have one of the better power plays — so he did a great job getting our guys prepared.”

With an assist tonight, Macklin Celebrini has points in six of seven games. He remain the Hockey East points leader with 12 and goals leader with eight.

With the victory the Terriers are 5-0-1 against UND in the last half dozen meetings and BU has evened the all-time series at 12-12-1.

The teams meet again Saturday evening at 7 p.m. 

                              Defkit's Terrier Takeaway

- The Terriers found a way to win in a game in which the opponent had more quality chances. The keys were capitalizing on their Power Plays while killing off their penalties, blocking a ton of shots, and getting strong goaltending after a shaky first goal.

- This was the most physical game for the Terriers so far. It was clear UND was targeting Macklin to see how much he could handle. Kudos to him for handling it just fine. It reminded me of many years ago when the UND coach was upset after a game at BU, accusing BU of taking runs at star freshman Landon Wilson. I expect tonight will be even chippier, especially once the outcome of the game is no longer in doubt, and even more so if BU is on the winning side.

- I thought the best skaters were Weber, C. McCarthy, Tuch, Peterson, and Stevens. All big bodies - they played a poised game, especially defensively, limiting second opportunities. I hope Peterson is able to go tonight - his combination of speed and physicality is a rare double threat.

- I thought Gavin McCarthy had his best game so far. He seemed to get more ice time than A. Celebrini, which is a change from prior games. Gallagher saw more shifts than recent games, though he did still have a near-disastrous turnover.

- The smaller forwards were less effective this game, at least in 5-on-5. No surprise given the physical play.

- I was very impressed with UND sophomore Jackson Blake, son of former Sioux Jason who was a key player for the Sioux in their 97 NCAA title win over us.He seemed to play half the game and had the puck on his stick often.

- Overall a good crowd, with a strong representation for the visitors. Hopefully tonight will be a big crowd as well.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Highlights, Pandolfo & Tuch post-game

● Boston Hockey Blog In complete effort, gritty play powers BU to 3-2 win over North Dakota

 

Looking ahead

2025 recruit Conrad Fondrk scored for the fourth consecutive game and assisted on two others as Team USA routed Czechia, 10-2 at the World U17 Challenge. Charlie Trethewey had a pair of assists and Jack Murtagh recorded one helper. Fondrk leads the U17s with eight goals and 14 points. Trethewey is a point behind at 13.

● USA Hockey recap  

2024 recruit Michael Chambre stopped 20 of 22 shots in regulation and overtime to lead Sioux Falls to a 3-2 shootout win against Lincoln. The Fort Meyers, Fla., native turned aside all three Stars shootout attempts to gain his fourth win in five decisions for the Stampede.

● sfstampede.com Wiebusch and Chambre claim shootout win 

 

2025 recruit Cal Hughes scored his fourth goal in West Kelowna's 6-4 loss to Merritt.

 

2024 recruit Max Lacroix stopped 35 shots but the NAHL Colorado Grit dropped a 5-4 decision in overtime to New Mexico. 

 

Women’s Team

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After trailing Merrimack, 1-0, for most of the game, BU tied the score on Neely Nicholson’s power-play goal in the final minute of regulation and then won in overtime on Catherine Foulem’s strike at 2:58.  Grad student Alexa Matses, a transfer from Northeastern, stopped 16 Warrior shots, in the game played at Lawler Rink in North Andover. The win gives BU a three-game winning streak.

Merrimack took a 1-0 lead at 7:03 of the first period on a Sarah Hirst goal. BU had an 18-13 shot advantage through two periods, but were unable to get on the scoresheet.  Terriers ramped up the attack in the third period, pouring 14 shots on the Warriors’ Calli Hogarth.

Merrimack drew a too many on the ice penalty at 17:45 and BU pulled Matses to create a 6-on-4 advantage. As the period’s final minute began, Julia Shaunessy passed to Christina Vote in the left circle. Her shot was defended but the rebound went to Nicholson to the right of the crease. The freshman forward went high over Hogarth sending the game to overtime.

In overtime, co-captain Nadia Mattivi sent Foulem into the offensive zone. At the right circle, she cut into the slot and fired back against the grain, beating Hogarth.

For the game, BU outshot the ‘Mack, 35-17. The teams will complete the home-and-home on Saturday at Walter Brown Arena in a 4 p.m. start.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Head Coach Tara Watchorn post-game comments

● Boston Hockey Blog recap

 

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